World’s highest railway bridge in Reasi set to be operational soon

Rail-bridge is designed for 120 yrs | Railways to operate Vande Bharat Metro train between Jammu and Srinagar: Vaishnaw

27/03/2023

JAMMU, Mar 26: World's highest railway bridge over the Chenab river is soon to get operational for rail traffic.
The much-awaited world's highest railway bridge spans the Chenab River at a height of 359 m (1,178 ft) above the river, which is 35 meters taller than Paris' Eiffel Tower. The arch bridge between Bakkal and Kauri in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir is 1,178 feet above the riverbed, forming a crucial link from Katra to Banihal. It is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL), a dream project worth Rs 35000 crore.
The bridge has passed all the mandatory tests. However, the Chenab railway bridge is near completion at present as the incumbent regime laid a special focus on the project worth Rs 1400 crore.
The people of Jammu and Kashmir will get the bridge after two decades of waiting since the project was approved in 2003 but was delayed shortly due to fears of stability and safety.
In the year 2008, the contract for constructing one of the highest railway bridges was awarded by the then government.
With the passage of time, the construction of the bridge was started again, however, it missed several deadlines.
To make the bridge ready for commissioning, all the mandatory tests have been conducted successfully.
Union Minister of Railway, Communications and Electronic and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that all the tests on Chenab Railway Bridge have been conducted and were successful.
The tests that have been conducted to check the stability and safety of the world's highest bridge include high-velocity winds test, extreme temperatures test, earthquake-prone test and hydrological impacts due to water level increase.
The Railway Bridge is ready for commissioning; officials said and added that track lane work has been started over the bridge.
The Union Minister of Railway, Communications and Electronic and Information Technology, who visited the bridge for an inspection, has said that two more tests are to be conducted tomorrow, which include running a motor trolley and bolero customised rail operation on the bridge.
The base of the steel and concrete arch bridge, 42 kilometres from Reasi town, was completed in November 2017, allowing for the start of the construction of the main arch which was done in April 2021.
The milestone on the bridge was achieved in August last year when the overarch deck of the bridge was completed with a Golden Joint', paving way for the laying of the track.
As per the officials, the construction work on the bridge started in 2004 but had to be suspended in 2008-09 to consider the aspect of the safety of rail passengers in view of frequent high-velocity winds in the area.
Once completed, the bridge will be able to withstand winds with speeds up to 260 kmph and will have a lifespan of 120 years, the officials said. Besides the highest railway bridge, the USBRL project has many firsts like the longest railway tunnel having an overall length of 12.75 km, the first cable-stayed bridge which when completed will be an engineering marvel of the 21st century.
Reportedly, the construction of the highest railway bridge was the biggest civil-engineering challenge faced by any railway project in India in recent history.
Over the last three years, engineers have been building the arch with the help of two mammoth cable cranes installed on both banks of the Chenab -- the Kauri end and the Bakkal end, report said.
Ashwini said that the Chenab River train bridge, which is the highest in the world, is designed for 120 years.
The minister, who was on a two days visit to Jammu and Kashmir, this morning inspected the bridge at Reasi district on the second leg of his tour after visiting Kashmir.
"The construction work on this bridge started somewhere around 2005-06 but when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over in 2014, he personally reviewed the project, which is very close to his heart and he desired the design of the bridge for more than 100 years," Vaishnaw told reporters during a press conference after inspecting the bridge in Reasi district.
The rail minister said, "taking all ifs and buts in mind, the bridge is made in such a way that it is designed for 120 years, which is a big achievement for the entire country. The nation must be proud of our engineers, who transformed the dream into a reality,"
There were several engineering challenges, said the minister adding, "but the most important was 'will power' of the leadership. The 'will power' of the leadership matters a lot especially when the PM Modi took the project in his hands with timely reviews, monitoring, discussions that made us more encouraged and determined to accomplish the target. Leadership really makes a difference."
The minister said that among others, foundation design was also one of the major challenges in this project, secondly was construction of tunnels in the young mountains of Himalayas.
"Own method 'Himalayan Tunnelling Method' (HTM) was adopted by our engineers to build tunnels in the Himalayas for which special technology was used. Moreover, the issues of gases in the mountains at the time of tunnelling, was also taken under consideration to prevent fire incidents," said the Minister.
Stating that the duration from Jammu to Kashmir will be reduced to 3 to 4 hours after the start of the connectivity, Vaishnaw said, "Vande Metro trains from Jammu to Srinagar and vice versa will also start very soon that will actually and practically convert both the cities into one."
He also said a Vande Bharat Metro train will be operated between Jammu and Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir once the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link Project (USBRL) becomes fully operational.
Addressing mediapersons at the first run of a track-mounted trolley on the world's highest arch bridge constructed on the Chenab river, he said the USBRL project will be completed by December this year or January 2024.
Vaishnaw travelled on the track-mounted trolley with railway officials and inspected the iconic bridge having the height of 359 metres from the Chenab riverbed.
Vaishnaw said it has been decided to set up a Vande Bharat Express train maintenance facility at Badgam in the Kashmir Valley and in the first go Vande Bharat Metro will be run between Jammu and Srinagar cities once this important railway link, which will connect the Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country through rail network gets completed.

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